Entrepreneurship a solution for unemployment in Nigeria

The theme of the summit which lasted for three days was ‘Let’s get to work’ and it brought together some of the Nation’s deepest thinkers and most innovative minds to come up with various solutions to the crisis in accessing great leaders in Nigeria.

“The reverend Jesse Jackson recently said, that Nigeria has always been seen from a little window, but from his knowledge of this country, from the diversity, the endowment, the richness, from the personalities and the warmth of the people; it is time for us to open a wide door into what is truly Nigeria,” Chief Edem Duke, Minister for Culture & Tourism told CNBC Africa.

At the summit which was organised to empower the Nigerian youth, it was established that job creation and entrepreneurship are the most effective solution to the country’s many challenges such as insecurity, unemployment and so on and so forth.

“We over exaggerate some of the security challenges that we have. This is such a wonderful country and there’s hardly been any visitor to this country who has gone back with regrets. They always say that what they hear about Nigeria is not what they see on ground,” he explained.

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The country still battles with a very negative image internationally and the Minister of Culture & Tourism believes that Nigerians themselves are responsible for this as they have been indolent in communicating their own image and story across the world.

“As we speak now, Nigeria is the number one destination for investment in hospitality. The development of hotels and accommodation is the critical collateral for the growth of tourism as a whole,” he said.

According to the minister, a framework for retail destinations is being developed and the Africa International Investment Forum in its evaluation of the entire continent, identified Nigeria as the number one destination for investment in that sector.

“We are beginning to see the growth of international chains in Nigeria in the last few years and I believe that with the ability of Nigerians to spend reasonably well in some of these facilities, and the profit which investment in Nigeria demands across all kinds of sectors, this is one area I’m sure that fresh investments will come into,” he added.